


She Hasn't Always Been This Way

by fearthainn



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/M, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-11-09
Updated: 2002-11-09
Packaged: 2017-10-06 01:35:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fearthainn/pseuds/fearthainn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ginny returns from France a new woman, and Harry is interested.</p>
            </blockquote>





	She Hasn't Always Been This Way

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: The idea for this came from a song called (surprise, surprise) "She Hasn't Always Been This Way" by Doc Walker, a country band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. The band can be found at [http://www.docwalker.ca](http://www.docwalker.ca/), where you can also find an MP3 clip of the song, if you're desperate to hear it. Since most of you probably aren't familiar with them, you can find the full lyrics here: <http://www.fearthainn.com/lyrics.html>.
> 
> (Who else thinks AO3 needs a warning tag for "Songfic"?)

_She's the prettiest girl I've ever seen,  
Walking definition of a beauty queen.  
Every man in town wants to take her away  
But she hasn't always been this way_

~*~

Harry yawned and rolled onto his back, squinting against the faint crack of sunlight that had wormed its way under the drapes. He blinked groggily at the orange ceiling, silently cursing whatever imp had caused him to drink quite so much. It felt like a family of dwarves were mining for gold on the backs of his eyeballs. He and Ron had crawled in at 3 am and hadn't wanted to wake anyone by hauling the cot up to Ron's room for Harry to sleep on, so Harry had crashed on Ron's bed last night, while Ron took the couch downstairs.

He could hear, distantly, the sound of Mrs. Weasley discovering her youngest son on the living room couch, the ghoul in the attic grumbling about the noise, and what sounded like several herds of elephants pounding up and down stairs. Harry smiled against the racket outside the door, and inside of his head.

It was good to be home.

Home had been an entity in short supply, the last few years. Hogwarts had been a war zone more than a haven until graduation, and in the intervening four years, Harry had spent more time on the Continent than he had on English soil, trying to outrun his memories. Waking to the sound of Molly Weasley berating Ron soundly for pulling "some foolish stunt" was almost a pleasure.

Harry winced as a particularly loud shriek was followed by a louder bang and the thud of footsteps, the sounds driving spikes of pain into his head. _Almost_ a pleasure.

The door slammed open and Ron came in, red hair standing on end and looking as ratty as Harry's did on his good mornings. He looked much like Harry felt; namely, terrible. He glared at Harry for a minute, then flopped down on the foot of the bed and nudged Harry with one foot. "Move over," he grumbled, and when Harry complied, Ron curled up in a ball on the end of the bed with his head under his arms and his eyes screwed shut.

"Ronald Marcus Weasley, don't you _dare_ go back to bed!"

Ron didn't open his eyes. "Mum, go _away_!"

Harry could hear the sound of Mrs. Weasley's voice coming closer and closer as she climbed the stairs. "I mean it Ron, you're not going to sleep the day away! You may be a wastrel and a worthless layabout on your own time, but while you are under my roof, you'll do what I - HARRY!"

Molly had reached the top of the stairs, and was standing in the doorway. Harry waved weakly from the bed. "Hullo Mrs. Weasley."

"Honestly Ron! Why didn't you say Harry was here? Can I make you some breakfast, love?" Molly bustled into the room and hauled Ron upright. He was beginning to look quite green about the gills. "Get up, you lazy thing."

Harry picked at the blankets and took stock. He thought he should be able to handle food...he hadn't got _that_ drunk, after all. Enough for a bad headache, but not for major upset of all bodily functions. "Sure, I'd like something." He thought about it a moment longer. "Um, toast, maybe?"

"Of course, dear, toast it is. Come down when you're ready!"

Harry and Ron exchanged a look as Mrs. Weasley bustled back downstairs, chattering happily to herself. Ron snorted. "Shoulda known she'd be happy to see _you_," he said with asperity. Harry shrugged innocently.

He sat up fully, moving his legs out of the way so Ron could flop onto his back on the end of the bed. The redhead pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes and groaned. "Remind me to never let you take me out drinking again. I feel like shite."

"Join the club," Harry said ruefully, rubbing his forehead. "Know any good pain reliever spells?"

"No...but hey, know who would?" Ron said, brightening.

"Not your mum, she'd let us suffer."

"Nah. Gin!" Ron sat up, wincing only slightly. "She came home from her mediwizard training a few months ago, she'd give us a bit of a fixup."

Harry eyed Ron with trepidation. "Um...alright." He wasn't too keen on the idea of asking Ginny, since the last time he'd seen her, she had been 16 and still in the throes of a monumental crush on him. He wasn't sure he was up to that, first thing in the morning and in the grip of a hangover.

"Well, c'mon, before Mum starts yelling again," Ron said, and shuffled out the door. Harry sighed and grabbed his glasses before climbing out of bed to follow.

~*~

_Shoulda seen that girl ten years ago  
With a Kool-Aid mustache and freckled nose  
Now she's breaking hearts and taking names  
But she hasn't always been this way.  
She didn't mean anything to me  
I brushed her off so easily._

Unfortunately for the two hung over young men, Ginny was not in her bedroom. Harry looked around at her room with interest when Ron opened the door, after a cautious knock. The frilled pink bedspread and curtains he vaguely remembered from one of the few times he'd seen the inside of Ginny's room were gone, replaced by a deep blue coverlet and smooth blue curtains. Unlike Ron, Ginny had removed the posters and magazine clippings that had dominated her room as a teen (which had been mostly of Harry, much to his chagrin), and replaced them with poster reproductions of a couple of tasteful famous wizard paintings.

Ron sighed in disgust as he closed the door behind him. "Figures. I come home and sleep on the couch, and I get in trouble. She stays out all night, doesn't even come home, and what do you want to bet she doesn't even get a talking-to?"

"That's because I'm the baby," said an amused voice from the stair. "I get all the breaks."

Harry and Ron both jumped and turned. "Ginny! Don't do that!" Ron growled.

Harry just stared. Standing on the stairs, red hair swept neatly back in a clip, brown eyes gleaming and looking far too well-dressed for the early hour, was possibly the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. Ginny had been sent away in the middle of her sixth year, to Beaubaxton in France because Molly and Arthur felt it was too dangerous for her to remain in England, and Harry hadn't seen her since, what with his traveling and her entering mediwizard training in France after her graduation. While she was away, it appeared, Ginny had grown up.

"Um...hi Gin," Harry said, trying not to stammer. He shuffled his feet, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, standing there in Ron's too-big pajama bottoms with his hair sticking up all over. He risked a quick swipe at it, trying to smooth it down a bit.

"Hello, Harry," Ginny replied with a faint smile."Welcome home. You look...terrible. What on earth did you two do last night, go dragon-wrestling? You both look like death warmed over."

"Gee, thanks Gin," Ron snapped. "Actually, we went to the pub in Diagon Alley. Wanna do us a huge fav - "

"Imbibed a bit too much, did we? Want ickle Ginny-kins to cure your widdle hangover, do we?" Ginny narrowed her eyes at her brother and climbed the last two steps to the landing. Harry blinked as he realized that she was on eye level with him now, matching his 5 feet 8. She hadn't been tall last time he saw her, either. "What's in it for me?"

"Ginny, don't be a bitch. Please?" Ron whined. "C'mon, I've had 4 hours sleep, barely, and Mum woke me up yelling...have a little mercy on your favourite brother and his best friend."

"_Bill_ is my favourite brother."

"Gin-NY!"

She sighed and rolled her eyes, pulling out her wand. "Alright. But don't think I'm going to do this for you all the time. I didn't go through 2 years of medical training to cure your hangovers."

Ron flashed her what he probably thought was a charming smile. "You're the best, luv."

"Save it for the ladies, Weasley." She pointed her wand at Ron first, then Harry, muttering under her breath and directing cool blue light at each of them. Harry felt a relaxing warmth sweep over his skin, and a blessed removal of pain from his skull. Ron bent over and pecked her cheek, then clattered down the stairs, leaving Harry and Ginny on the landing.

"Um...thanks, Ginny," Harry said, wracking his brain for something clever to say. All intelligent thought seemed to have fled with his sudden realization that at some point in the last four years, Ginny had become a beauty.

"Any time, Harry," she replied, gazing at him with her clear brown eyes. An awkward silence lengthened, until Ginny cleared her throat and raised her eyebrows. "Would you mind moving so I can get into my room?"

Harry flushed. "Oh! Oh, right, sorry. Um." He shuffled to the side, and she brushed past him, shutting the door without a backward glance. Harry bit his lip, staring at the door for a long moment before walking heavily down the stairs.

~*~

_Well her brother Bobby was my best friend  
So she followed us around wherever we went  
Now she won't give me the time of day  
But she hasn't always been this way  
When I was sixteen she gave me a card  
That said "I love you with all my heart" _

Ron was waiting for him in the kitchen, Pig flying in loops above his head and hooting. "Hermione's written. She says hello," Ron said through a mouthful of toast and eggs. Molly gave Harry a friendly smile and gestured him to the chair beside Ron, where a plate of toast was sitting. She bustled back out to the sitting room as Harry sat down gratefully and grabbed a piece.

"What's she say? I haven't heard from her in a while," he said, leaning over Ron's shoulder with interest.

"Says here she's good. You should let her know you're home, and we can hook up, go for dinner, something like that," Ron said idly, still reading the letter. He and Hermione were in an off-again stage of their relationship, which had gone through so many ups and downs that Harry got dizzy just thinking about it. He loved them both, but couldn't quite see why they didn't just stay friends and save themselves a great deal of trouble.

"Sounds like a good idea to me. She still working for the Daily Prophet?" Harry asked, snagging another piece of toast.

"Nope, she's decided to do research for the Ministry. I think she's daft, but there you go," Ron said. An owl swooped in through the open window and landed impatiently on the edge of the table, beside Ron. He glanced at the letter tied to its leg and sighed. "Another one for Gin. I swear, that girl's got more mail in the last few weeks..."

"Upset because I have more friends than you do, brother dearest?" Ginny smirked, striding into the kitchen. She'd changed her robes, but looked as fresh and pretty as she had on the stairs - except for the rather unattractive sneer that curled her lip. She reached past Ron as he sputtered and detached the letter from the owl's leg, opening it casually. She stole one of Harry's pieces of toast and munched as she read the letter.

"Who's it from?" Ron asked, trying to lean up and read over her arm.

"None of your business," Ginny snapped, yanking it up out of his reach. "When did you get so nosy? You're worse than Mum, honestly. Can't I read my mail in peace?"

"Not in this house," Harry said softly. Ginny jerked her head around to look at him, startled. He shrugged and smiled at her.

He was rewarded with a small but genuine smile as Ginny refolded her letter. "You're right about that. This place is such a madhouse. I'll be happy when I find an apartment of my own."

"You're moving out?" Harry asked, surprised. Of all the Weasley children, he would have thought Ginny would be the last to leave the nest.

Ginny nodded absently and grabbed another piece of toast. "As soon as I find a place, I'm out of here."

Ron snorted. "Sure y'are. That'll be the day."

"Unlike _some_ people I could name, I happen to be gainfully employed and as soon as I save enough money, I am finding my own flat and having a little privacy. Since that's bloody hard to come by in this zoo. Did you know," she turned to Harry, "that Fred and George are still living here?"

Harry shrugged and shook his head.

"It's positively wrong, a bunch of grown men still living at home with their parents." Ginny snorted in disgust. "And speaking of employment, I am due at work. Have fun, boys. Try not to get too sloshed, hmmm?" She waved idly and drew her wand, apparating out of the kitchen with a small pop, leaving Harry staring owlishly at the space she'd just vacated.

"Don't even think about it," Ron said.

Harry blinked. "What?"

"Ginny. You definitely don't want to go there. Poor Seamus still hasn't recovered fully from his Ginny Experience. She's a man-eater, I tell you."

"I wasn't - " Harry began to protest, but Ron waved a hand, cutting him off.

"Sure you were, and I don't blame you. But I feel obligated to warn you, as your friend and her brother, that she's bad news. _Major_ bitch. Happened after she got back from doing her mediwizard practicum in France. She went away all sweet and nice, came home the Ice Queen." Ron shrugged and grabbed another piece of toast. "So don't bother. Save yourself the trouble."

Harry opened his mouth and then closed it again. There wasn't really much he could say to that.

~*~

Hermione and Lavender came down from the Ministry and were making up sandwiches and tea when Ron and Harry staggered back into the kitchen. They'd spent the morning de-gnoming the garden for Mrs. Weasley, another thing Harry hadn't realized he'd missed in his years criss-crossing the Continent. The gnomes seemed wilier now, and quicker on their feet - or he and Ron were just slower than they used to be.

Hermione greeted them with a smile and a hug and peck on the cheek for Harry. "I've missed you! I'm so glad you've come back!"

Harry smiled back and grabbed a sandwich. "I've missed you all as well. It's good to be home. "

"So where have you been?" Lavender asked quickly. "What've you been doing all this time?"

Harry shrugged sheepishly. "Oh, about. Spent time in Italy, went to Greece and to Spain...went to America for about 6 months, but I didn't like it. Spent a little time in France, but not much. "

"Too bad you didn't know Ginny was there, you could have gone and said hello," Hermione said off-handedly, then shut her mouth with a snap and cast a sidelong glance at Lavender, who had gone stiff.

The blonde girl sniffed derisively. "If she'd talk to you...she's taken to ignoring everyone who doesn't meet her 'standards', whatever they are." Lavender raised her chin. "Not that she's one to talk about having standards...I heard that she was seen on Diagon Alley having a row with none other than Draco Malfoy last week."

Ron growled. "She wouldn't date Malfoy...she wouldn't stoop that low."

"Would it be any surprise? She's not exactly picky," Lavender said venomously.

Hermione elbowed Lavender in the ribs. "Would you stop it? It's none of our business, anyway. " She turned to Ron and poked him too. "And don't you go saying anything either."

"Saying anything about what?" Ginny demanded, appearing in the doorway.

"Nothing!" Hermione said loudly, as Lavender said "Draco!" and Ron said "Why are you looking at _me_?"

"Ah...gossiping about our Miss Weasley?" Ginny scowled and strode into the kitchen, grabbing a sandwich off the plate in the middle of the table and leaning on the counter next to Harry. He was a bit startled to realize that in the high heels she was wearing, she was actually several inches taller than he was. From the cocked eyebrow and small smirk she shot him, she realized it too. She stood up a little straighter.

"We weren't gossiping about anything, Gin," Hermione protested.

"Of course not," Ginny replied icily. "Because my private life is never up for discussion, is it?"

Lavender narrowed her eyes and glared at Ginny with such hatred that Harry was taken aback. Never had he seen the normally cheerful Lavender look so...menacing. "So is it true that you're dating Malfoy? Gryffindors too boring for you now?"

Ginny stiffened, and her face froze. "I am not dating Draco Malfoy, I assure you," she said.

"Oh, are you just stringing him along, then? Trying to get _him_ to embarrass himself over you, too?" Lavender all but snarled at her. "Like Seamus?"

Ginny took a deep breath and seemed to steady herself, then smiled slowly. "Seamus misunderstood my intentions," she said lazily. "I wasn't anything but up front, and he chose to ignore what I told him. And anyway, I'm just having a little fun."

"By breaking hearts and taking names," Lavender sniffed.

"We each must cultivate our little talents, mustn't we?" Ginny said haughtily. "I can date any man I want, and you...do whatever it is that you do." She turned on her heel and stalked out the door while Lavender sputtered.

"That bitch!" Lavender hissed finally, as Hermione patted her shoulder and glared at the door.

"What was that all about?" Harry asked in bewilderment.

Ron just shrugged. "Don't ask me...PMS maybe. She's been catty as hell for weeks now."

Hermione smacked him on the back of the head. "She's been under a great deal of stress with her new job, Ron. Just because she's been upset the last little while, doesn't mean that she's automatically premenstrual. Anyway, she just bro - well, never mind. She's been quite stressed lately. It's no surprise she's easily upset."

Lavender wrinkled her nose, blinking rapidly. "That doesn't give her the right to be so mean! It's not enough that she _stole_ Seamus, she has to go 'round rubbing my face in it! Just because she's...she's..." She made a small noise, then buried her face in her arms. Hermione sighed, pulled her chair closer to the other girl's and rubbed her back softly, glaring over Lavender's head at Ron.

Ron shook his head. "Sorry, Lav." He caught Harry's eye and jerked his head toward the kitchen door. Harry nodded and grabbed another sandwich off the table before heading outside behind Ron.

They settled themselves down on the rickety porch step, looking out over the garden. Ron sighed heavily and leaned back on his hands, stretching his legs out. "That girl...dunno what's got into her."

"What happened with Seamus?" Harry asked quietly. "Lavender seems awfully upset."

"Oh...she and Seamus were dating, and I guess Lav thought they were pretty serious. Then Ginny showed up at a party one day, and next thing we all knew, she and him were an item. Ginny dated him for a while then dumped him. I think Lavender thought he'd come back to her, but he won't, just mopes around, pining after Gin. And for some reason Ginny feels the need to rub her nose in it every time she sees Lavender." Ron shook his head and leaned forward again. "And Ginny's been playing the field, for lack of a better phrase. Before Seamus, she was dating some Ravenclaw bloke, and before that, another guy from Hufflepuff, I think, and before _that_ it was Colin. All since she came back, what, four months ago? And she was having some sort of affair with someone in France...Hermione said it was pretty passionate, and that the bloke, whoever he was, broke it off suddenly and that Gin was upset about it. But judging by the way she treats the rest of the men she's dated, I have to wonder if it was all his fault. Told you she's a man-eater."

Harry just nodded, frowning. He was trying to picture Ginny - both the sweet young girl he'd known before, and the calm, cool woman she'd grown up to be - in any sort of passionate affair, and just couldn't do it. Not that she wasn't capable of passion, but it just didn't seem to suit her.   
She wasn't the type to be swept away. Of course, she didn't seem the type to go 'round stealing other girls' boyfriends either, but still. This was Ginny. Despite the attitude she seemed to have developed, she was still _Ginny_. Sweet, innocent, well-meaning Ginny, who was as solid and dependable as...as, well, the sun. Harry just couldn't picture it, and said so.

Ron shrugged. "Well, she's changed a lot," he said idly. "I mean, you wouldn't have thought that it would make a difference, her being in France for the war, but...well, you've seen her. Hermione says that the bloke she had her affair with, the last year or so, left her and married someone else...she says Gin's not got over it yet." Ron sighed and tossed a pebble into the yard. "I wish she would, and stop playing mind games with all my friends, aye?" He sighed again morosely and glanced at Harry. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."

~*~

_She hasn't always been this way  
I really can't believe how much that girl has changed  
She's out of my life, she's out of my reach  
I'm out of her mind, she's out of my league  
But she hasn't always been this way_

Despite Ron's dire pronouncements, Harry couldn't help himself. He found himself going out of his way to talk to Ginny, happening to be around the kitchen when he knew she'd be there, hanging out in the garden when she was reviewing patient files from her office on the porch, casually chatting with her whenever he got the chance. He was staying at the Burrow while he looked for an apartment in London, and since Ginny hadn't found a place of her own either, it was that much easier for him to find ways to spend time with her. He was dying to ask her out, to get her away from the sea of parents and brothers and friends that always seemed to crowd the Burrow and interrupt whenever Harry tried to grab a chance to talk to her alone.

It was late evening when he walked past the drawing room and saw her curled up in her father's chair, a small spell from her wand casting a circle of light around her, a small island of brightness in the dark room. Harry paused in the doorway and watched her for a moment, marveling again at how pretty she'd grown. _Now's your chance, Potter_, he thought to himself. _Just ask her to dinner._ He'd been waiting for this opportunity for days. But something held him back - nervousness or shyness or the faint warnings from Ron echoing in the back of his head. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his unaccountable attack of nerves.

"Harry," Ginny said finally, flicking her eyes up to the door where Harry was hovering. "Did you want something, or are you just going to lurk around there all night?"

Harry cleared his throat and scratched nervously at the back of his head. He thought he'd prepared himself for this, but standing here, with her gazing at him with those cool eyes, it was more difficult than he'd expected. "Actually, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to have dinner with me tomorrow," he said quickly.

"No," Ginny said calmly, and bent her head back to her book.

"N-n-no?"

"No, Harry, I would not like to have dinner with you."

Harry opened his mouth and closed it a few times. "But...but, why not?" He stopped and cleared his throat. That had come out sounding a bit more anguished than he might have liked.

Ginny sighed. "Because I don't want to." She looked at him calmly, setting her quill down. "I'm sorry if I'm hurting your feelings, but I'm really not interested in dating you."

Harry swallowed and blinked. Whatever he'd been expecting, that wasn't it. This was _Ginny_. She was like one of the steadfast pillars of his world - sweet little Ginny with her pretty brown eyes and curling hair and her crush. To hear her say that she wasn't interested in him was like hearing that the sun had started suddenly rising in the west. Harry shook his head slowly. "You've changed, Gin. Ron said it, but I didn't believe him. You really have, though, haven't you?"

Ginny made an inelegant noise. "Of course I've changed. I grew up. Honestly, Harry, what did you expect? For me to throw myself at your feet and declare my undying devotion now that you're back?" She shut her book with a snap and stood up suddenly, grabbing her bag from beside her chair. She walked around the table and faced him, her face cool and unreadable. "I'm not the little girl who followed you around and wrote you notes and sent you valentines, and you've no right to expect me to be. I'm not fifteen anymore." She looked at him searchingly, almost wistful, then shook her head and turned away. She walked quickly out the door, her heels echoing slightly in the narrow hall as she walked away.

Harry bit his lip and winced as he stared at her retreating back. "I know you're not," he whispered sadly. "I know."

~*~


End file.
